The Grudge

This movie is awesome. Not the best in the grudge trilogy but still an awesome movie. The storyline is cool. The acting is fantasic. Also it has Sarah Michelle Gellar in it. She also plays in buffy the vampire slayer and the producer of this film also produced spiderman.

I am a pretty big fan of horror flicks and this one never quite made it to the level I can appreciate. There was never really enough exposition into the backstory of the ghost(s) and naturally everyone in the film makes the worst possible decisions. Not to mention the antagonist wasnt really that scary, and there wasnt much of a psychological element to it either. Basically it seemed like go in house, you die. Even The Ring had more substance.

came in a little early wasnt damaged or anything like that wasnt as scary as I thought it would be but thats probably because I was with family but other than that a great buy.

Excellent movie. Was a little reluctant to purchase since it was shipped out of Canada. Especially since the shipping was going to be a while. I waited and it showed up about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Again thank you.

Good

I love this movie! It is dark and creepy and coincides with Japanese culture since ghosts are a big part of Japanese lore. You will not be disappointed if you buy this! I recommend this to any fan of ghost stories!

If I learned anything from watching The Grudge (2004) last night its that malevolent spirits are very messy, and dont pick up after themselves. Perhaps thats part of their modus operandi...they come into your home, create a huge mess, and then while your attention is focused on cleaning up the place, thats when they choose to scare the heebie jeebies out of you. Well, few things, cinematically speaking, scare the heebie jeebies out of me anymore (real life is infinitely more frightening), but I did think this film was, at the very least, entertaining, and provided some spooky visuals and an interesting and fairly simple story. Co-written and directed by Takashi Shimizu, The Grudge is actually a remake of a Japanese film he did previously titled Ju-on: The Grudge (2003), which I have not seen, so I cant comment or compare without sounding foolish. Appearing in the film is Sarah Michelle Gellar (I Know What You Did Last Summer)...does anyone else find it slightly pretentious to consistently use all three names? But I digress...also appearing is Jason Behr (Dawsons Creek), William Mapother (Lords of Dogtown), Clea DuVall (Identity), KaDee Strickland (Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid), Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me), Ted Raimi (Man with the Screaming Brain), Ryo Ishibashi (Dog Star), and Bill Pullman, the guy who played the President of the United States in Roland Emmerichs bloated and flawed science fiction orgasmofest masterpiece Independence Day (1996)...I rip on Emmerich because I think hes one of the worst kinds of filmmakers (load the movie with costly special effects to hide the fact its lacking in everything else, including an actual story) but in a purely visual sense his films can be fun... The film begins with some text telling us that when a really angry person bites during a fit of unprecedented rage, the negative energies stick around, creating some wickedly awesome bad mojo that waits to glom onto unsuspecting individuals who happen to visit the area, thus consuming their juicy and effervescent life force. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Karen Davis, an exchange student living in Japan with her boyfriend Doug (Behr) whos quite the hunk with his perfectly tousled hair...you know the style, its the one that someone spends two hours and a whole lot of money at the hairdressers for to get that `just woke up look (I get it every morning for free)...anyway, Karen, whos a nurse of sorts, receives an assignment to provide daytime care for a really creepy infirmed elderly woman (Zabriskie) after the mysterious disappearance of the previous caregiver named Yoko...alas, poor Yoko, I knew her not, Horatio, but she was a pretty, young, hello kitty maiden...anyway, Karen arrives at the house, sensing something odd, but goes about performing her chores. Turns out the crazy lady lives with her son (Mapother) and his wife (DuVall), neither of whom return home, prompting Karen to call her boss (Raimi) as she doesnt want to leave the goony old bat alone...but guess what? Theyre not alone...at least not in that house, as it has a violent history, and something was left behind, something in the form of a small, nekkid Japanese boy with a whole lot of eyeliner...and a big mouth...(the evil takes on many forms, but this was the oddest) First of all, does anyone else think William Mapother is kinda creepy? Im not talking about his character, but the man himself...his face is all scrunched up and too small for his head, reminding me of one of those angry midgets from the Phantasm movies...well, I suppose Im no Adonis myself, and hes probably a very kind fellow...as I said before, I enjoyed this film. It sort of reminded me of a Japanese version of The Amityville Horror, but, instead of Satan moving in and causing all sorts of mischief, we have a nondescript evil entity, the result of a past incident of great anger and violence (the Japanese detective referred to it an `emotional stain), indiscriminately preying on unsuspecting visitors who happen to enter the abode. I might be tempted to label this a haunted house story, but thats not entirely true as the malevolent force wasnt confined to the house, but rather latched on to individuals who spent time within the four walls, and subsequently followed them wherever they went until...well, lets just say following them around was by far the least harmful thing it would do...the story was actually pretty simple, but told in a way to make it appear more complicated. What I mean is instead of proceeding on a linear path, the film is edited in such a way that we see past sequences mixed in with scenes of the present, as they story crosses timeline boundaries, weaving three, connected tales into one. This kind of thing can get messed up very easily, but here they kept it clean, orderly, and understandable. The main one involves Sarah Michelle Gellars character, the second involves the family currently residing in the house, and the third features the family that lived in the house three years past, and the ones responsible for all the stuff going on presently. Oddly, there seemed to be less focus on the characters and more on the story itself, which may be a result of cultural differences, Im not sure, but it felt intentional, so I went with it...there are some good scares throughout the film, many the result of something seemingly innocuous in the background coming forth to surprise an unsuspecting audience, along with a few, drawn out sequences designed to create a sense of suspense. The overall effect for me was a permeating sense of unease, as the evil was clinging to the characters, biding its time. Overall I thought the cinematography was really beautiful, and I especially liked those long and foreboding shots, as they developed a real sense of tension. If youre looking for some visceral thrills, youll probably be disappointed as the blood n guts factor is minimal, but in terms of a spooky ghost story, the film does very well. I have only seen the PG-13 version, but there is an R rated directors cut available on DVD, one that features about six or seven minutes of extra footage. The picture on this DVD, presented in widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic high definition, looks very sharp and clean and the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio comes through very well. The PG-13 version that I have has a commentary track with producer Sam Raimi, screenwriter Stephen Susco, actors Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ted Raimi, KaDee Strickland, and Jason Behr, along with a couple of others. It also features a five part, `making of documentary titled `A Powerful Rage, a featurette titled `Under the Skin - A medical explanation of fear response in film, along with trailers, one for this film, along with The Forgotten (2004), Guess Who (2005), Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004), Boogeyman (2005), Riding Giants (2004), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Man of the House (2005), and Mirrormask (2005). The Directors Cut DVD contains a few more extras, so if you are planning on buying this film, keep an eye on which version youre getting, depending on what youre looking for... Cookieman108 By the way, did anyone notice how I got through this entire review without mentioning The Ring (2002)?

yes. strange. I bought this film twice in six years. I paid for it twice and regret watching it twice and mostly, paying for it twice. boo! hello? is anybody there? ,,, nope!!!

My boyfriend had never seen this movie! Glad we rented it.

Perfect